Through Amethyst Eyes
by Psyneko
Summary: Mewtwo is on a search for the purpose of life. He arrives at Mt. Coronet and accidentally wakes the sleeping Dialga, it sends him back in time to re-live his life but can Mewtwo be "simply" another pokemon? Can he survive his disgust at being captured?
1. Dialga Lord of Time

The sun set shedding a craggy sort of light as it filtered through from behind Mt. Coronet's sharp edges. The air was heavy with that worn scent which stated the day was done. From atop one of the highest peaks a single silhouette stood, defiantly. This was as far north as he'd ever traveled. Him the brooding monster created by man. Violet eyes stared at the dying sun, the western ocean glittering with streaks of bloody light. He wrapped his tattered coat around his lithe frame. All around, Mewtwo felt life settling for the evening, and still others stirring for their nocturnal prowl.

The meaning of life… How evasive the question, if even a question at all. All regions in the world seemed to go on with their life even without a proper definition to their existence. How could they be so satisfied? Pokémon and people alike, how could they be so content without purpose? It was immoral, obscene even, that there be so much joy in the ignorant world, while he lived a tormented life amongst the shadows. No, there must be an answer something he was overlooking. He leapt up and landed near a cavern's entrance below. He would sleep among the ruins tonight. Broken pillars and weathered stone would provide shelter for the night, perhaps even for the next day. He'd spent the last few days in motion, but sunlight was tiring, and he always felt safer in the darkness of the night.

As he inspected a potential shelter, a pair of gravelers rolled out in front of him and protested his presence loudly.

(I mean no harm.) Mewtwo replied exercising restraint. He was after all invading their territory. (I'll only stay the night.)

It was -as he'd found out many times before- useless to argue with gravelers, or any type of rock pokémon, once they got territorial. But he had to try, otherwise he'd be blasting everything every five or six steps. However, the boulder-like figures were adamant. With their greater appendages they lifted a slab of rock and tossed it at the psychic.

Eyes the color of old wine in the golden sunset, flashed an electric blue. The slab broke in two and was hurled aside by an unseen force. The pieces hit granite pillars causing the cracked ruins to shake.

(I don't want to hurt you,) Mewtwo began, (But unless you cease this, I will.)

The gravelers snarled back a retort and lunged at him in twin roll-outs. The psychic cat easily sidestepped and the heavier creatures crashed against stone. This time the pillars gave out and tumbled down. Mewtwo winced, but new from experience the Gravelers were perfectly fine, if only completely knocked out.

(So much for hospitality,) he sighed wistfully, silently wishing for just a hint of civility from any of his pokémon comrades. It seemed he was cursed to travel in savage company searching for nonexistent answers when, perhaps, all he really longed for was a little understanding... (and a cup of raspberry tea with would be nice…)

For the first time he noticed the etchings on the ground beneath his paws, most of it hidden beneath rubble and dust. With a flick of his wrist the entire courtyard was swept up and the carvings became visible. Swirls of fluid patterns and scalloped edges converged in a single point before him where a large slab, perhaps where an altar to some pagan deity had once stood. The ground then rumbled as a second pillar fell and took its neighbor with it. Two…three… four more of the great columns fell until the sacred (for surely it was so) ground was swallowed up un a cloud of dust and falling rubble. Mewtwo raised a barrier, worried now that perhaps the ruins were not all that stable.

Perhaps he should think about digging out those two gravelers, although, considering how their species ate rock, they'd eat out of that pile of rubble eventually. Suddenly an deafening roar shook the ground. Lights, all the color of the spectrum began flickering through the dusty air. A presence suddenly loomed far above the debris and stared down at Mewtwo with blood-red eyes.

Almost subconsciously, Mewtwo took a step back as he looked up a those scarlet eyes. The dust settled and he saw the creature of silver and cobalt stand tall a good four stories high. A vortex swirled behind it spilling the colors of an impossible world into this reality. A mental presence older than the mountains thrummed in Mewtwo's mind. Never before, had the psychic pokémon felt so intimidated. There among the wreckage he felt more like a misbehaving child who had broken his mother's porcelain vase, than the most powerful pokémon known to mankind.

And still even in terror, the questions that tormented his mind surfaced. Why was he alive? In the presence of such majesty that defied reality, how could he even begin to find purpose to his own life? Powers such as they clearly did not belong to this world, this…reality. The creature roared at Mewtwo once more in a primal cry that seemed to tear the sky at the seams.

(Dialga…) Mewtwo spoke the name in awe as the diamond gem upon the great monster's chest glittered. Violet feline eyes stared at the crystal mesmerized by the prism as it seemed to spin in glittering facets. Too late did he realize the peril of the jewel, a stone hewn from the first star of the universe. A crystal which burned with an ancient fire… Too late did Mewtwo look up to see Dialga's glowing fangs and impossibly black gullet… Too late did he move away before the titan engulfed him in his Roar of Time.

Space warped and shifted all around. The ground was snatched away and he fell into a wormhole onto endless darkness and night. A night as primeval and old as time itself.


	2. From the End it Begins

The darkness surrounded Mewtwo, clinging to his fur as if it were something tangible. His eyes glowed an ethereal blue as he mentally reached out for something to center his world amidst the chaos in black. Try as he might he found nothing: no light, no ground, not even the slimy inner walls of Dialga. Surely if the massive dragon had devoured him, it would not feel as if he were falling through eternity. There was silence all around as if the blackness had stifled all sound from ever emerging. Mewtwo did not know how long he had been falling, but the unsettling weightlessness was driving him insane. His mind refused to focus. How could he hover if there was no ground to hover above? How could he attack that which was simply an absence of light.

(DIALGA SHOW YOURSELF!) his demand was punctuated by an audible snarl.

Fear was driving him to use his vocal chords if only to cut through the silence. Yet the great time dragon did not appear. The darkness pressed closer, imprisoning him in the void. A sharp stab of claustrophobia struck the large cat and he thrashed wildly to no avail. The blackness solidified in a tight cocoon around him, cold and unyielding.

(No! NO! _**NO!**_)

Quick, sporadic images of test tubes, needles, and shadowed faces flashed through his mind's eye. He was trapped once again in _that_ place. Mewtwo did not want to think about his past. They'd treated him like an object as if he had no more emotions than a gun or a tank. They tried to bend him to their will and when he fought back they poured drugs into his veins.

Mewtwo struggled against his ill-fitting prison until his strength gave out. Terror became laced with despair and he slumped against the walls of his prison weakly pawing the cold surface.

(Not again... please... not again...)

* * *

The early morning sun shone down on a peaceful meadow. Dew drops glistened almost joyfully in the cool breeze. Not far was Lake Verity, its waters glistening like diamonds scattered on blue velvet. The crystalline waves lapped softly against the shore as starly flew overhead. Just then a loud voice shattered the peaceful morning.

"Come on Tikal, lets just check out what it feels like to have one for once!" a boy with wild blonde hair followed behind a dark haired girl who seemed to be trying to ignore him.

"No Delos, we have a lot of work to do today. Dr. Lux said Professor Rowan was coming tomorrow, and you know what that means!" she replied in a no-nonsense tone.

Delos sulked, he knew exactly what "that" meant. It meant another year of scrutiny to see if they were worthy of being called Lab Aids, another year of disappointment since he'd been blowing off doing any real work lately, another year of Lucas showing them up, another year of the Jubilife Trainer School punks getting their starter pokémon…

"It means I'm never getting out of Twinleaf Town," Delos griped, "you know as well as I do that there's only one opening for Lab Assistant and Lucas is going to get it. Both his parents work for Rowan, it's like in his blood or something!"

"Well maybe, if you stopped goofing off you'd have a chance," Tikal chided as she took out a set of test-tubes from her pack and knelt by the shoreline.

"You're not getting out of this place either!" Delos replied kicking a pebble into the lake. "You're going to keep being an intern until you get bored with it and then go run your mom's breeding show until all you care about are ribbons and egg moves."

"I am not going to be doing shows," the girl muttered as she took a sample of the crystal waters and swirled it in the tube.

"Oh please, Rowan's overlooked you these last four years just as much as he has me," Delos replied in a bored drawl as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "if you remember last year we weren't 'experienced enough' to be trusted with a starter pokémon."

"Well maybe if you hadn't tried to overload the transfer-beam while the professor clearly told you…"

"It was a load of tauros-crap and you know it! He's just keeping us here to do his dirty work. We'll never get to be trainers. We'll never get to be poke-techs, and we'll NEVER LEAVE TWINLEAF!" he yelled out throwing back his head so he looked a lot like a howling growlithe in his orange-striped sweater.

Tikal sighed and placed the last of the specimens in her bag. Delos was probably right, they were both nearing eighteen, a good seven years over the time trainers came of age. They should have gotten their starter pokémon by now, but for some reason they were still stuck in their hometown. Their only hope was getting a foothold in Sandgem Labs and even that was seeming hopeless. She sighed wistfully. Delos' idea of "borrowing" a couple of master-balls from the supply room to capture their own pokémon was sounding more and more appealing. But no, desperate though she was, there was no way she'd resort to stealing, with any luck, Professor Rowan would take notice of her this year… this was the year.

"Hey! Lookit this!" Delos suddenly called out as he waved a box over his head, "The letter carrier dropped a parcel!"

Tikal stood up and curiously went to check out the parcel.

"'To Sandgem Poké Labs, Attn: Prof. Rowan'," Delos read out loud, "Cool! What do you think it is?" He shook the package listening for any noise from within.

"Oi! Idiot, it says fragile! Quit using it like a rattle," she retorted snatching away the package, "whatever it is, we'll take it to the Labs for Dr. Lux to hold on to."

"What? Aren't you going to at least take a peek? It's probably the new pokédex Lucas was prattling on about! I can't wait to see his face when I tell him I got to see it first! Open it! Open it!"

"We can't open it. It's addressed to Prof. Rowan," she replied trying to keep the box away from the hyperactive boy who was chibily trying to take back the box. Finally he turned around and sunk his chibi teeth into Tikal's shoulder. The girl yelped and dropped the package into Delos' waiting hands. The boy tore into the cardboard as if it were Christmas morning.

"Score! Tikal, we hit the jackpot!" he crowed as he spotted three brand new pokéballs shining in the midmorning sun a polished cherry-red. He picked out one of the spheres gripping the smooth surface almost greedily.

Tikal's gray eyes widened as she picked up one of the pokéballs herself. There was a small sticker of a water drop on the ball, Delos' had a small lick of flame and the remaining one in the box had a little green leaf.

"Delos… put it back," she murmured a thrill of fear surging through her. They were in big trouble if they didn't get these back to the lab, "these are the starters for tomorrow. Professor Rowan…"

"Will give it to some snivelly brat from Jubilife who probably wouldn't know what to do with it anyway," Delos interjected, "Couldn't we… I mean… It's not really stealing, not really. We could sorta, take two and leave the other one in front of the labs…"

Tikal gave him a look. Although the exact same thought had popped into her mind, she knew they would get caught. Delos sighed and stared miserably at the pokéball in his hand.

"This blows," he grumbled, "so close…" He then noticed Tikal was staring at him. "…what? What is it?"

"Um… Delos, where exactly did you get this box from?"

"Oh, I dunno, some idiot left it out in the grass," he replied, "why?"

"I think it came back… look behind you."

Delos turned to see a very large, very angry houndoom baring its fangs at them. On it's back was a torn pouch about the same size as the box they'd just ripped open. The houndoom barked and lunged at the pair. Tikal and Delos bolted.

"You really are an idiot," Tikal screamed as she tried to keep ahead of the angry canine.

"I'm sorry! How was I supposed to know?! Hey wait a minute! Weren't you supposed to spray some Super Repel?!"

"It doesn't WORK on trained pokemon!" the girl snapped.

The houndoom paused only to retrieve the third pokéball before dashing after them. He quickly outran them and cut them off. He growled as he stood barring their way to town. Smoke came out in small whiffs and it was clear that it was only the pokéball in its jaws what was keeping him from fire-blasting them into the next millennium.

"Pokéball go!" a streak of red flew past Tikal as Delos used his pokéball. A chimchar appeared. It stared at Delos, then turned to the houndoom and tilted its head. It screeched once and hopped from foot to foot. "Tikal don't just stand there use it!"

Shaken out of her shock she threw caution to the wind and released her own pokémon. It was a Piplup. Yes! Finally some luck.

"Piplup use bubble!" she called out.

Delos furrowed his brow. "Chimchar use scratch!"

The two little pokémon did as they were told and a barrage of bubbles pelted the houndoom dousing the flickers of fire coming out of its nostrils. As soon as the bubbles cleared the little Chimchar pounced on the soaked houndoom and began clawing at him. The canine gave a muffled yowl before bucking in an attempt to get the little primate off his back.

"Piplup give it another bubble!"

"Keep at it Chimchar!"

The houndoom flailed and its eyes turned a bright red. With a snarl he tossed aside the pokéball from his jaws and a bright orange light began to glow in the back of his throat. Delos braced himself, he knew a fire-blast when he saw it.

"Tikal…"

"Piplup aim at its mouth!"

"Piplup!" the little blue pokémon chirped.

There was a hiss of steam and then a blast of energy which shook off Chimchar and sent houndoom flying until it crashed against a tree. Once the dust cleared they saw the canine knocked out on the grass.

"PIPLUP!" the little bird celebrated by hopping up and down. Tikal released the breath she realized she'd been holding.

Delos rushed to check on Chimchar, but the little ape was unscathed and currently poking at the fainted houndoom.

"That was close," Tikal murmured tucking a stray hair behind her ear before picking up the little Piplup and cooing some encouragement.

"HELL YEAH! We're awesome!" Delos yelled out. Chimchar climbed atop his shoulder and chattered happily. It was heartbreaking that they would have to give up these little pokémon, but they weren't theirs to keep.

"We should head back… Piplup, return," the girl glanced at Delos, "You're carrying the Houndoom back with us."

"Me? Why me? You're the one who knocked it out!"

"It was only doing its job, besides if you leave it loose it'll only come after us once it wakes up."

"This blows," Delos reaffirmed but did as he was asked. "Chimchar return."

Tikal picked up the third pokéball and followed Delos back to the Lab. Dr. Lux met them at the door. He gave them a disapproving glare as Delos lay down the houndoom on the cold steel table they used for examinations.

"Delos, Tikal, do I even want to know why there's a wounded houndoom courier here?" he asked with an icy undertone which made Tikal wince.

"No, not really," donated Delos. "Only… well he was delivering the three starters for tomorrow and…"

"Things got a little hectic, but the starters are here," finished Tikal handing over the two pokéballs from her belt, "Delos has the third, so no harm done."

Dr. Lux stared at them and drew a calculated breath. "I'll just hold on to these then…" he finally replied taking the pokéballs from their hands, "it will be our secret… don't mention this to anyone, if Prof. Rowan finds out…. No one is supposed to use the starters before their trainers collect them."

He glanced at the houndoom and clenched his jaw. It was obvious what had happened but he was not going to be the one to tell Rowan he'd botched something as simple as receiving pokémon from a courier.

"Yes that would be a problem wouldn't it," an elderly voice echoed from behind. Dr. Lux turned around, and there in the doorway was Professor Rowan.

"Professor! You're early! That is-" the younger scientist stuttered as he tried in vain to hide the houndoom.

"It is my lab still is it not?" the old professor huffed, "Now if you're quite done attempting to hide the obvious Lux, I'd like everyone to meet me in my study. I have several things which might be of some interest to the interns."

"Y-yes of course," the startled doctor replied after a quick bow. The old professor had a way of startling anyone younger than him with a single glance.

Professor Rowan's study was different than the rest of Sandgem Labs. Whereas the latter was composed of mostly cold tile, tightly knotted carpet, and sterile countertops, the study was paneled in warm maple tones with plush burgundy carpets underfoot. The ivory tusks of a pinsir were mounted on the wall above a large marble fireplace. His wooden desk was the color of honey upon which a branch of corsola coral of unusually large size rested. A pair of white gemstones peered at the group of Lab Techs and interns from their place on the mantle just as if the sableye they once belonged to were still winking at them. A plume fossil was on the mantle ensconced behind a glass bell and polished to a glossy sheen. Various other specimens lined the bookshelves as testimony of Professor Rowan's expeditions to the bordering regions.

The old professor glanced at the group fleetingly as he placed three large cylinders on his desk beside the glossy pink coral branch.

"Now that you're all here we can begin," he replied gruffly, "Lux do you have the three starter pokéballs with you."

"Ah sir?" the lab tech looked puzzled. He'd left them back in his office for safekeeping until tomorrow. "I thought it might be best if I didn't-"

"Well go fetch it man!" Rowan snapped.

A dainty woman wearing a lab coat watched as her colleague and husband floundered for words before running off like scolded child.

"That was not very cordial of you Professor, I'm sure we can wait a few seconds," she replied in a quiet tone.

Rowan shot her an amused glance, "I thought you approved of me bullying that bumbling husband of yours, Aldora. But I assure you I have good reason to be impatient."

"I'm afraid I have to apologize," Dr. Rowan began as he turned to the canister-like objects on his desk. There was a hiss as he unlocked the bases of the three cylinders. "It's been, seven years since we first met. And I assure you I have not forgotten what that entails. Out of all the children that came to me that year you three were the most talented."

A boy with his Aldora's confident stance and Dr. Lux's blue eyes smiled politely. Delos, on the other hand, looked about to say something particularly acrid, but just barely refrained from doing so.

"Young man, I understand," Rowan said looking at the blond from the corner of his eye, "the frustration must have been overwhelming. But I assure you I did it in your best interest. You see, I've been traveling Kanto, Hoenn, and Johto helping out the resident professors resolve mysteries beyond scientific comprehension. If I had sent you off all those years ago, you would have become great trainers but would not have been ready for this task. Professors Elm, Birch, Oak, and I have completed the pokédex…"

Dr. Lux then burst in with the three pokéballs.

"Professor?" he meeped realizing he'd interrupted something important.

Rowan took the pokéballs and continued as if nothing had happened, "That is to say, we have completed generic entries for all known pokémon. Delos, I believe you used Chimchar this morning didn't you?"

"How did you-?" Delos began.

"Is suits you, not only that, but the edges of your hair are singed clean off," Rowan pointed out, "here, Chimchar belongs to you now."

Delos cradled the pokéball he'd been handed as if it were made of gold.

"Tikal, seeing how the unfortunate houndoom in the other room still hasn't dried off, how would you feel about raising Piplup?" Rowan offered her the pokéball and the girl immediately took it.

"Yes I-! Er… I'd be glad to assist Professor Rowan," she replied as she curbed her enthusiasm to a professionally acceptable level.

"Lucas m'boy, there's still Turtwig here if you're interested."

Bright eyes widened as the boy nodded and took his partner from the professor's hands.

"That being done then, I'll give you three the new modified pokédex tomorrow after I have booted them up properly. This pokédex, as you know, is highly specialized scientific equipment and I suggest you treat is as such. You will be expected to elaborate on the entries with each pokemon you find. Now… onto a more pressing matter," he sighed tiredly and glanced at the three cylinders on his desk. "As I stated, we have pokédex entries for all known pokémon in the four regions…"

He uncovered the cylinder closest to him and the metal exterior gave way to a glass tube. Within the glass, was a translucent blue egg. Five sets of eyes fixed on the odd shape. The core was a deep ruby color with dabs of gold on it's narrowest end that seemed to float on the sapphire miasma.

"…Professor Elm and I had been studying sea-pokémon when we came across this egg. It is unlike any other we have encountered. Its biological readings don't match any pokémon we have seen before."

He then carefully lifted the tempered crystal and turned to Lucas.

"Young man, we have kept this egg in stasis for some months, I believe you are now capable of being trusted with it," he lifted the blue sphere and offered it to the young aid.

"I accept the responsibility Professor Rowan," Lucas replied with a short bow before taking the egg and holding as if it were made of the finest bone china. "You can count on me."

"Indeed…" the older man said with a curt nod. He then turned to the second cylinder and once again opened the metal casing to show the glass container inside. There beneath the warm glow of the fireplace was what Tikal could only presume was an oval rainbow. The egg glittered and it's shell cast a different set of colors every couple of seconds like a beacon. "This specimen I've found on Fullmoon Island on a safari with professor Birch. It was seemingly left in an abandoned nest. We have tested and it emits an odd sort of radiation."

Delos stepped back cautiously, "Is it toxic Professor?"

"Not at all, in fact, just the opposite. The radiation has a calming effect on pokémon and humans alike. We've run tests for nearly two months but we still can't determine what causes it or what pokémon is inside. Delos, since you out of all of us here could use a little calming down, you are better suited for taking care of this 'rainbow egg'," Rowan stated wryly as he lifted the delicate sphere out of the incubating base and handed it to the blonde boy.

"Professor… I…" Delos stared at the fluid light in his hands, "thanks. I won't let y'down."

Rowan smirked. "You had best not boy, or I'll personally confiscate your pokémon."

"Good one sir," Delos began to chuckle when he saw that the professor was not joking. He gulped nervously, "I understand."

"And now, for the last mystery…" he clicked open the final tube and there was a hiss as if the contents had been under pressure. Inside was an egg with a metallic indigo shell as intense a color as the heart of an amethyst. Swirls seemed to have been hammered out into a pattern as if by a metal worker. It looked like something that had been dug out of an ancient castle and polished to a silvery sheen. Two thin metal bands had been clamped to the top and bottom of the egg. Every once in a while a little green light would blip from restraining bands.

"Professor Oak found this little conundrum in the woods of Pallet Town. It was radiating so much psychic energy it had confused all the pokémon in the area. He was tipped off at first when people started reporting seeing strange visions in the area. It was only with his Houndoom that Oak was able to capture the egg. These metal rings prevent the massive waves of energy from shooting out."

"Do they hurt the egg?" Dr. Aldora asked as she adjusted her glasses.

"What would cause it to radiate so many psywaves?" countered Dr. Lux.

"Sabrina recommended using psy-limiters on the egg similar to those her Psychics use while training Abras. Perfectly safe. As for the psychic energy itself, Oak proposed that it was a defense mechanism to protect the egg from predators. However, the psychic energy is not just psywaves. It is also emitting waves most similar to those produced by empathy attacks," Rowan replied.

"It can't control its power, can it?" Tikal asked staring intently at the egg.

"So what… the egg is looking for its mommy?" Delos snorted.

Rowan turned his attention and the teen fell silent while clutching his rainbow egg possessively.

"Yes, well as blunt young Delos has pointed out," the old professor continued after clearing his throat, "it could be the egg was orphaned. Though Professor Oak and his aids tried, none could get the egg to hatch. I suspect they were all too busy to spend any real time around it and establish an empathic connection. Hatching Abras takes meticulous care and attention. Once can only imagine the effort necessary to hatch this pokemon. Tikal, I am trusting you with this egg, and may you have better luck with it than the rest of us."

There was another hiss of compressed air as the Professor lifted the glass casing and brought out the egg. He carefully removed one of the limiters. Immediately, everyone present felt a weight upon their consciousness as if something were pressed against their brain attempting to enter. Tikal took the odd egg from the professor's hands and looked down at it with an intense sort of curiosity.

"I will try Professor," she replied, "though it's hard to believe this shell is actually biological."

"These past seven years should have prepared you well for any challenges you may later face. The three of you, you must realize I could not just entrust these findings or the new pokedex to a child. If the pokémon in these eggs are as unique as their shells then they will need just as unique a trainer," the professor stated as he sat in a large plush chair, "I will only ask that you bring the pokémon back for examination once they hatch."

"Yes Professor," the new trainers replied.

"Very well, you are dismissed," Professor Rowan replied, "don't forget to come back in the morning to pick up the upgraded pokédex."

The interns left the study leaving behind only the two aids and Professor Rowan.

"Professor," began Dr. Lux, "do you really think this was wise?"

"Which part, Lux, that I gave three young trainers unstable pokémon eggs? That I am giving the same three technology that in the wrong hands could do a lot of damage? Or that I have given your son the means to travel the world and leave home for the first time?" Rowan replied dryly.

"He's only 17…" Lux's trailed off quietly.

"Indeed, I would say an adventure is long overdue," the professor smiled.

* * *

Tikal and Delos walked home in relative silence. Tikal cradled the metallic egg in her hands and lightly ran her fingertips over the silver limiter still clamped onto it. It wasn't that she didn't care for her Piplup, quite the opposite, but the amethyst orb had caught her attention. Even with the psychic damper circling the egg, she could feel the little creature's distress.

"What do you suppose will hatch from our eggs?" Delos asked finally shattering the silence.

"I don't know, it could be anything really," she replied, "I wonder if this is normal. This energy that keeps pouring out of the egg feels so… melancholy. Maybe you're right, the egg is an orphan."

"Whoa, you admitting I'm right! This is a first! HAHA!" Delos grinned brightly at Tikal.

The girl smiled back as she tried to think back to when she was a child. What comforted her when she was unbearably sad? Tikal remembered her father holding her close and singing. She couldn't quite remember the words, but the melody was clear and even now instilled her with a feeling of peace. Suddenly Delos stopped in mid-stride and looked at Tikal oddly.

"What did you do?" he asked puzzled.

"Hm? Nothing, why?"

"You egg. It's not giving me a migraine anymore," the boy stated with a curious look in his eyes.

It was only then that Tikal realized the psychic energy had gone from turbulent to non-existent. Delos could no longer feel its presence and Tikal only sensed a soft touch. In fact it felt as if something was softly clinging to her thoughts like...

"It's just a baby pokemon," she smiled and caressed the egg's shell and removed psychic limiter, "a _psychic_ baby pokemon. It just needed someone to _think _it a lullaby."

She gently placed the egg inside her knapsack and continued to think of lullabies to soothe it. (_Somewhere over the rainbow..._)

She reached for the pokéball on her belt and released the piplup inside.

"Hello there little one," she smiled and lightly ran her fingers through his soft down. "Oh, such a pretty plumage. You need a name..."

"Don't you mean a nickname?" Delos chirped.

"No, I meant a name," she retorted, "how would you like it if your proper name was Human?"

The little piplup cheeped his agreement and cast Delos a haughty look. Tikal smirked at the little bird's brash behavior. It was certainly too adorable for that unforgiving glare.

"Kame... Serac..." Tikal mused.

"Slushy," offered Delos, which earned him a barrage of bubbles shot in his general direction. Tikal laughed at the definitive and violent reaction from such a cute bundle of feathers. Oh he would make a fine Empoleon some day.

"I think... Slade is most fitting for you," she murmured tapping the tiny beak lovingly. "My brave protector."

* * *

The world was cruel. This Mewtwo knew well. What he had failed to take into account was how much crueler Fate could be. Time was impossible to measure in the darkness. It seemed years since he'd stopped fighting his frigid prison. The darkness never wavered but with each breath he felt it constricting him a little more. He slept most of his life away and the few moments when he was lucid were plagued with fears and misery.

And then the visions came.

Images of men in lab coats and cold sterile rooms. Whether he had finally snapped or this was a new sort of hell it was difficult to discern. He struggled and fought the visions even as the men came closer. They pried into his thoughts wanting... reaching...

(Stay away!) So weak he had become, that his mental command sounded childish within his own thoughts. The men retreated but he could still sense them just beyond his prison.

After several encounters with these beings, Mewtwo's dread corroded into a constant state of panic. He cast his powers out like a net hoping to confuse and deter the men from returning. It was all for naught. Soon after, they bound him with power limiters. Oh he knew these gadgets well. The cold chill surrounding his body was now accompanied by an icy metal clamp in his mind. All semblance of reason vanished and Mewtwo fought blindly. There were no words of outrage, no plea, just raw blinding panic. Yet his struggles did little except hurt him all the more.

As despair threatened to consume the last of the psychic's will, a single spot of warmth gathered upon his back. He blinked in confusion as he felt the chill of his prison slowly thaw and become pleasantly warm. Distantly he heard something strange; a soft melody. He ceased his struggles and mentally reached out towards the song. Perhaps there was someone else trapped here with him. Sure enough, there was a mind behind the song. He lightly brushed against the consciousness and sighed. A gentle warmth wrapped around his thoughts rippling with kindness and... love...

The song was love. It was even more startling when he realized the love was directed towards him. For a few moments he remained uncertain, trapped between his mind's horrors and this unknown illusion of relief. When it became clear that his mind would be unable to choose his body chose for him. A shudder not unlike a sob coursed through him and his mind clung to the source of comfort in desperation. All too soon it became apparent how lost and helpless he truly was. Dialga's curse had stripped away his powers and the cold stoic façade he'd so carefully erected. For the first time in his brief life, Mewtwo was forced to face himself as he truly was.

All of the fight went out of him as the cat allowed this being to soothe him. Although the night never wavered, he closed his eyes and blocked out his surroundings. He let his mind be filled with wonderful emotions until at long last, Mewtwo found rest in slumber.


End file.
